The Legacy of Senator McComplain

This post is one of the few times where I choose to stand on top of my soapbox and let out my frustration with the political universe.

What has happened to John McCain? I have fond memories of the principled, strong and independent maverick that captured the imagination of the American people back in 2000. Unfortunately, those days and that John McCain have vanished into thin air. Over the last few days, I have noticed a disturbing trend in Camp McCain: the unforgivable sounds of a schoolyard bully who has resorted to whining to get his way.

As the last words left the mouth of Senator Clinton, the McCain campaign had its spin machine in full gear stating “Sen. Clinton ran her presidential campaign making clear that Barack Obama is not prepared to lead as commander in chief. Nowhere tonight did she alter that assessment. Nowhere tonight did she say that Barack Obama is ready to lead.” The whole point of the comment is what Hillary Clinton did not say. This is from a man who does not know how many houses he owns and confuses the Green Bay Packers with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Prior to President Clinton’s speech last night, a McCain spokesperson (paraphrasing) said that while they expect President Clinton to say negative things about Senator McCain in a partisan political setting, President Clinton has said very nice things about Senator McCain in the past. To me that is political shorthand that means don’t pay attention to what Bill Clinton said at the Democratic Convention because he doesn’t really mean it (and we have proof).

Today, I have no doubt that the spin from Camp McCain will be focused on who is not in attendance at Invesco Field. It is not a big deal that several Republican Senators are not even bothering to show up in Minneapolis next week. While the sound bites may help the networks fill their time, the more interesting question is why does the McCain campaign need to grab the attention all of the time? Is it political gamesmanship or a constant need to feel relevant?

What happened to John McCain? The positive maverick for change has been replaced by the negative cynic of the institutional status quo. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…Senator McComplain.